To end the War
by Ralor
Summary: What if the second World War had been started by the Greek gods, but are now unable to stop it without the help of a completely normal human? The first in the Zeke Francis series.
1. Prologue

**Author's note: Hey guys, soooo…, I said I was gonna upload the prologue and the 1****st**** chapter on Saturday, but I found out that I'm going away Friday and won't be back till next Saturday. So here's the prologue to get you ready for what's to come…**

**Prologue**

**1937**

It was complete and utter chaos. Giant fissures had ripped the earth apart causing the buildings to crumble. Most people were running about in sheer terror, while others released moans of agony seeing those they held dear dead; pooled in blood.

No-one had been spared: the rich, the poor, the happy, and the sad - all were suffering in some way from the massive quake that had just hit the Coast of Sicily Island, Greece.

And then the earth shook once more. Just as powerful as the last, the earthquake rocked the earth, scattering families, and friends, causing everyone to begin a fresh new wave of panic. And despite their pleas to be spared, and their begging for the pain to stop, the ground continued to shake, this quake quickly becoming even more violent and much more powerful than the last.

Then, suddenly, the screams cut off as a single wave of water, at least forty feet high, crashed down onto the ground. As the wave pulled back, there was nothing. The land had been wiped clean. The blood, the destruction, the pain, the suffering, had all vanished. However, it was not only the agony that had been washed away, but the people were gone as well, and with them, the hope that they had had to see another day. Not even a hint of the event that had occurred remained; the beach was just as empty as the day it the Earth had been made.

Another wave approached, much smaller than the last; at only twenty or so feet high, it struck the empty field. But this time, when the water retreated, it left something instead of taking. A sole figure appeared on the land, face down on the ground and unmoving. Another wave arose, this time only gently nudging the figure.

And he awoke.

He opened his eyes for the first time in centuries, no longer in pain, no longer suffering. He was alive. He stood up, standing **much** taller than any man, and looked around. Here again. But this time, he was alone. His companions were lost, or rather, destroyed… by _him._

Remembering the man… nay the one they called a _hero _who had done this to him, he yelled in anguish, striking the ground.

And for the third time that day, the earth shook.

It had been so long, chances were he was long dead. But he _would _have his revenge. And he knew just who the people who deserved to face his wrath were. But first he would have to bide his time.

"But just you wait," he spoke aloud, "When I am finished with you all, Olympus will be just as desolate and empty as the land around me."

Walking away, leaving the land behind, he began to plot his revenge.

**Author's note: Hopefully, you guys liked it and will keep following me. This really means al lot to me as I plan be an author as soon as possible, (possibly even when I'm still in college) and I could really use some constructive criticism. Please, no flaming/spamming. Chapter 1 will be uploaded tomorrow, and a new chapter will be uploaded every Saturday afterwards around 6 pm.**

**Thanks for reading guys and remember to please review!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Ok, so here's the first chapter, I hope you guys enjoy it… if anyone's reading it. I've noticed that other people who put up there first chapter get a lot more hits than I do, any suggestions on how more people will want to read my story? Anyways, enjoy the chapter!**

**Chapter 1**

**1944**

You know… I never asked for this…

I would be perfectly content if I were able to live my life like normal people do… but no. That wasn't what the fates had set out for me. Instead I was cursed. At least that's how I saw it.

My name is Zeke Francis, and as far as I was concerned, I'm the most unlucky and abnormal kid who'd ever lived in Minnesota, US of America.

Honestly, I don't think that I've ever been _normal, _since as far as I could remember they'd always been there. I had to wonder sometimes what others saw, if they saw anything at all, that is. But I see it. And that's all that really matters, isn't it?

The worst part of all of this is that no-one ever believed me when I told them what I saw. I mean, it would make sense that they wouldn't believe me; I didn't even want to believe me. But the truth was that they were everywhere. They never really hurt me, with the exception of one or two, but in comparison to all of the ones I've seen that's nothing.

They've become so common, in fact, that I've grown to ignore them. It's much easier that way. But I know that eventually there'll be a time when ignoring them will no longer be an option.

And then I'll have to face the fact; that these monsters are real and that they'll haunt me as long as I live.

It was really odd. I've been seeing less and less of the monsters recently. They're still there, but quite a few have gone missing. I blame the war. Not that I'm saying that's it's a bad thing… or a good thing either, whichever. The point was that I'd only seen a total of five monsters this week. I usually see a minimum of twelve a day. It was strange, but I didn't mind.

For once, I felt like a normal fourteen year old, as I should, in fact. Sure, I was still teased. Who wouldn't be after claiming their sixth grade teacher had snakes for arms and a lion for a head? But that didn't mean that I wouldn't enjoy my time while there were no monsters to stare intently at me; knowing that I saw them.

But still, it would have been so much better if I were left alone for the day by him too. But… no such luck, he came over anyways, and with his posse of three, no less.

"Well, well, if it isn't nuts for brains," Kevin said laughing at me as the others sneered. Honestly I couldn't care less for their taunting. Thus, I ignored them and went on reading the book I had brought from home. Kevin, however, refused to be ignored. "Hey! I'm talking to you." He yelled as he took my book from me.

"Give it back!" I snarled, getting up. I was only few inches shorter than him, but we both knew that in reality, I was the one who would win in a fight. I just chose not to. After living in fear of the monsters for the first seven years of my life, I convinced my mother to get me to learn Fushin style karate, a style of martial arts, under the impression that it was "In case someone tried to attack me". But I was no bully, and I refused to use it on a living person. Especially not on the worthless excuse for a bully called Kevin.

"What is this anyways?" Kevin said, trying to decipher the book, even turning it sideways, to no avail. Truth be told, it was in ancient Greek. I'd become fascinated in it from the age of ten, when I'd found out about the Greek gods and other pieces of mythology, and was now able to read and write it quite fluently after hours upon hours of studying it intently. But to the bullies it was just more reason for me to be called a freak.

"Give it back now," I said, my temper rising. He knew what would happen if I got angry, and he knew it was very close to happening.

I saw the fear in his eyes before he quickly muttered, "whatever," and threw the book on the ground before stalking away, his posse following; their tails between their legs. I sighed as I went back to my book.

That night I dreamed. I didn't dream often, but it did occur time to time. However this time, it wasn't fictional as most dreams are. This had happened before, two years ago in fact.

_I was waiting after school, outside of my classroom for my sixth grade teacher, Mr. Smithens. On me leaned an object (two to be honest), wrapped up in a heavy cloth. I had just taken it out of my locker; otherwise others might have been curious why I was lugging the thing around all day. And I couldn't have that._

_I was terrified and anxious at the same time; not my favorite combo. But what could I do? He attacked me, yesterday… or tried to. If the principal hadn't needed to talk to Mr. Smithens at the last moment, he probably would've ripped me to shreds with his head, or poisoned me with his reptilian arms. The worst part was that I had only asked him a single question during class, 'Do you eat rats?' and after denying told me talk to him after class, for punishment for 'demeaning the teacher' or whatever. He's so stupid…_

_But that was then, this was now. I had to stay focused, or I'd end up dead. But then I questioned myself… what if I'm just crazy, what if I harmed an innocent man because I thought he was part lion, part snake, all freaky murderous thing. But then I remembered his eyes right before he attacked me… his gleaming red eyes. No, I was right. I'm certain for the first time in my life that they were real, and some might just want me dead._

_I heard a click. Snapping back to reality, I saw the classroom door open and out stepped Mr. Smithens. He saw me and smiled. Not one of those, 'Ah, my favorite student' smiles or 'Ah, a diligent student come to ask me a question' smiles, but an 'Ah, I'm going to kill him' smile. I didn't say a word; I just slipped off the cloth covering the objects that were leaning on me, revealing my dual long swords._

_I had been training with them for the past two years now, after becoming a first degree black belt in the style of fushin , and if I didn't say so myself, had already mastered them, able to beat some of the seniors in my class. But this wasn't class, where if something happened, we'd stop and get a band-aid. This was the real deal._

_And it terrified me. But still, I moved forward, slowly, with one sword in each hand. Smithens didn't move; he just stood there, smiling a lion's grin. However when I was within ten feet of him, he lifted his left arm/snake. It literally stretched and tried to bite me. But that was when my instincts kicked in. I quickly dodged to the left, and tried a downwards strike on his arm, but I must've missed, because nothing happened._

_Now, I went on the offensive, rushing forward, my right sword ready to strike, and he moved back. I continued my assault, but to no avail, he just continued to step back, dodging each and every swing, with perfect grace. To an onlooker, we must have looked like we were dancing, for every movement seemed in synch. I swiped to the right, he moved to the left. I struck down, he jumped up._

_I was growing tired of this, and I knew he was trying to wear me out. I almost chuckled to myself, '_Good luck with that,_' I thought to myself. I had great stamina. He'd have to go some time before I ran out of steam. Then I noticed something. His right arm was gone! I knew I hadn't cut it off, however, and he wasn't even bleeding. Instinctively I moved to my right, and barely dodged the snake that flew past me. Luckily, other than the small part of my sleeve that it'd just torn off, I was relatively unscathed._

_But now I was angry at being so blind as to not notice his actions, and I tried a new tactic. I threw my left sword right at him. He dodged. But I knew he would. That's why I took the moment to rush at him and stab him straight in the mouth._

_Only… it didn't harm him! Then he looked at me with a look that said "you're so pathetic", and began to laugh a maniac's laugh. In disbelief, I tried slashing him over and over again, but to no avail. My blade couldn't harm him!_

"_What are you!" I said truly frightened, stepping away from him._

_He turned to me and smirked. "Poor confused mortal. Don't worry; I'll put you out of your mis..!"_

_But then he choked on his words with a look of horror etched on his face… and he began to fade away, turning to golden sand in the process. I stood in awe, looking until he had blown away. Frightened, I did the most logical thing… I turned and ran, picking up my fallen sword in the process._

_I ran until I was home. Then I went into my room and sat on the corner of my bed, looking about terrified that Smithens might come back at any second. But after a few moments of sitting, I realized that he was gone, perhaps forever._

_Comforted by that thought, I tried to fall asleep._

_I refused to go to school the next day, feigning sickness, and continued to do so for the next three days afterwards. When I returned to school on the fourth day after the 'meeting', I noticed that we had a new teacher. Unsurprised, but trying to feign knowing nothing of his disappearance, I asked where he was. I was, however, surprised when I was sneered at by Kevin, saying that there was and never had been a 'Mr. Smithens' , and that there had only ever been out current teacher, Ms. Dundas. He then proceeded to call me crazy. And for some reason, everyone went along with his act, and Mr. Smithens' name was never brought up again._

_But I could never forget his gleaming red eyes._

I woke up in a cold sweat. It was the middle of the night. I convinced myself that the loud echoing noises of the bombs exploding down at the battlefield were the reason why I woke up so frightened. But really, I knew that wasn't why. It was because I knew.

Less monsters in the area or not, I was going to be attacked again… and soon.

**Author's note: Ok, hope you guys enjoyed it; the next chapter will be up next Saturday, so please subscribe and review!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's note: Sorry guys, I cam home late so I couldn't put it up. Anyways here it is, so I hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 2**

While walking to school the next day, I constantly stopped to check my surrounding, hoping that the eerie calm would continue, even though I knew it wouldn't. Something was going to happen… and soon.

Once again, I questioned myself, was this all really real? Was I just crazy? But those answers didn't really matter. All I knew was that I had to be careful. But it seemed, for now, I was safe.

I was one of the first ones to reach the school, not that it wasn't done intentionally. I had carried my swords again, and needed as few people as possible to see it, should someone see them and report it. I rushed to my locker and stuffed them inside. My deed done, I sighed as I closed my locker door.

Once again pondered another question; "Why me?" I said aloud. It wasn't fair. It had to be someone (I think), but why me? What had I done to deserve being either insane or being granted a 'gift' that I'd never even wanted. But all my questions never helped, nothing was ever going to change.

I walked to my classroom, and sat down in my seat, pulling out the same book that I had yesterday, Tales of the Heroes. I flipped back to the page I had stopped at, page 128, with the title 'Heracles first labour: The Nemean Lion'.

As I read through the Greek, I wondered again if the same monsters I saw were the ones that were from the Greek myths. But that made no sense; in the stories everyone knew of the monsters that were threatening their lives, but here, it was only me. I ended up coming to the same conclusion I always did.

"Life is so strange," I said aloud.

"It is, isn't it?"

I was completely shocked when I heard the voice, especially since I was in an empty room. But I heard it, a female voice. Unsure of myself, I called out, "Hello?"

Nothing.

I sighed again, as I came to the conclusion that my mind was just playing tricks on me… again. Who'd talk to me anyways? Definitely not a girl. I was a freak. Not even my own mother liked me, bringing unnecessary attention to her with my '_stories'_. The only one who'd ever cared was my brother, but he was of no help now. Not where he was anyways.

I sighed again as I went back to my book.

"Look at the little nerd," Kevin yelled from across the cafeteria, coming towards me, once again with his little gang, sneering.

As usual, I ignored him, but this time it was really difficult. With the thoughts of being attacked by some monster on my mind, I really doubted that I'd be able to tolerate Kevin today, especially when he came over and began to poke me in the back.

Infuriated, I swatted his hand away, and gave him a death glare. But he wasn't taking the hint.

"Aw, am I making the baby sad? Does he want his binky?" he said, as the others chuckled in amusement. Once again he tried to poke me, this time in the forehead.

But, I'd had enough. As he raised his finger to my head, I caught and held it tight twisting it to the left, effectively cracking his forefinger 90 degrees to the left and bringing him down to the floor, screaming in pain.

"I warned you," I said, my voice booming over his yells, as his 'friends' ran away in sheer terror. I was like this for another ten seconds, everyone in the room watching before I released him.

"You're a freak!" Kevin yelled, eyes wet, as he ran away.

I sat down and went back to my book, as the other students cheered at the bully's downfall.

I knew that sooner or later I'd be punished for that one though. I just wished that I'd at least get to finish the chapter in my book, before the principal came storming into the room with a security guard. Apparently they thought I'd start a fight. It was obvious that the other students wanted to see what I'd do, after that spectacular performance with the local bully.

I ended up with a suspension. Not that it mattered to me, especially if it meant that I'd be away from Kevin and his cronies for a few days. As I was walking home after hearing a very stern speech from the principal (which I had luckily been able to block out), half carrying my school bag and swords, still wrapped up, I heard a rustling in the bush besides me.

"Hello?" I said aloud. After hearing nothing, I continued walking home, glancing back at the bush every now and then. It was probably just a dog or something. But still, it I raised my guard, and unraveled my swords, just to be careful. I had only walked a few more steps, a sword in each hand, before I heard someone call out to me.

"Hey, you!"

"Oh great," I whispered under my breath, "If it isn't my favourite bully."

I turned around to see Kevin, his right forefinger wrapped in a bandage, as well as his usually posse, obviously following unwillingly. I sighed and turned around, effectively hiding my swords behind my back. I didn't need to get into even more trouble than I was already in.

"I'm gonna make you pay for what you did!" Kevin yelled in the stereotypical tough guy voice, as he rushed towards me. I sighed; you'd think he would have learned by now. But no, his type barely does.

As he rushed forwards, I sidestepped, hiding the swords as best I could and hit him in his side. He fell over, clutching his side, not really in pain, but rather shock from such a quick movement. Then the others, seeing their leader down, moved forwards, rather uncertainly. I pitied them; they must have thought that I was only pulling lucky shots; they didn't actually know that I was trained to fight. Only Kevin and a few others knew, and trying to make me look as pathetic as possible, he probably didn't tell them about my skills.

But either way, they were going down. I struck the first with a spin back kick, sending him flying into the bush next to us. Just this should have warned them, but like I thought, they just don't learn. The other two circled me as Kevin finally decided to get up. The one behind me rushed in, and I executed a back elbow strike to his stomach, dropping my swords on the ground.

The one in front of me moved up to me and tried to punch me in the face. I caught his arm with my own and wrapped his neck with his own arm, choking him. I didn't want them dead though, as annoying as they were, and so I just pushed him, right into the other one who was just getting up. They slammed right into the concrete and fell unconscious.

That's when I noticed that Kevin was gone. I looked around and saw him, running up to me, with an army knife in his hand. I narrowed my eyes as time seemed to slow down. It was strange, all I wanted was to be left alone, but somehow these kind of things always happened to me, ruining the peace that I'd been searching for for so long.

But if I thought that this was bad enough I was sorely mistaken, as just then a large cat jumped up in behind Kevin and roared. And when I saw large, I mean _**large**_; As in Nemean lion large.

I didn't curse a lot, but I allowed myself to do it this one time.

"Oh shit!" I yelled, raising my left arm, but otherwise frozen in fear. But could you blame me? The lion was about nine feet long and five feet tall. I was then, however, forcefully brought back to my current predicament, as Kevin slashed my outstretched arm.

I yelled in pain as my blood seeped out of my arm. However, it seemed like he didn't really know how to use it as the wound was not very deep, only long.

"Fuck," I cursed again as the lion roared at us again, slowly treading towards us. Kevin turned, upset that some dumb animal was distracting him during his moment of victory.

"Stupid mutt," he yelled as he tried to kick at the lion, as though it were a mutt.

'A mutt…? As in a dog?' I thought to myself, 'So they do see something different from me…' And even though it obviously wasn't the time, I had to wonder, if a lion in my vision was the equivalent of a dog in others… what the hell was a shark to them? Shaking myself out of this thought I noticed that this was the opportune moment to strike; so I did. No fancy moves, just a full on punch right into Kevin big ugly face.

Although in hindsight that probably wasn't the best move, as he went soaring right into the lion, and landed unconscious on the ground. The lion roared out in shock and snapped at Kevin, just barely missing. I shouldn't have cared. I should have left him to die after all he'd done to me. That's how I felt like doing anyways, but I knew I couldn't do that… no matter how much I wanted to.

I grabbed my swords from off of the ground and rushed. It wasn't the smartest plan even with a real lion, and with the Nemean lion, a beast which was supposedly invulnerable to any and all weapons, my swords should only bounce off of it at best… and destroy my sword at worst.

But I had to try. The lion switched its attention to me as I ran forwards, preparing my right sword for a swipe.

But on attacking, it was just like striking Mr. Smithens; it went straight through! It made absolutely no sense, I didn't, however, have the time to think about it as the lion raised its gigantic front paw to either slash at me or crush me, (because it could honestly go either way), but I sidestepped just in time for it to crush the ground leaving a small crater in the sidewalk.

I didn't know what to do… but then, what could I? I tried swiping again to no avail, and it tried biting and scratching sending me springing this way and that, trying to get out of the way. I had to admit, no matter how much stamina I had, I was getting tired, and the blood I was losing from Kevin's slash didn't help much. Unfortunately, the lion was just getting faster from the thrill of the chase.

That's when it happened. As it tried to crush me once again, it just barely caught my foot, but that was more than enough as it was effectively twisted it to the point where I it hurt to stand. I tried to move back again but fell from the sheer pain of it. The lion drew closer to the point where it loomed over me, ready to strike the killing blow.

"_I guess this is it," _I thought to myself shutting my eyes, _"Well my life was… ok while it lasted anyways."_

Then I heard a clanging sound, a growl and a voice.

"Looks like you could use a little help, huh?"

"Huh?" I said aloud. I reopened my eyes, and saw a girl, just about my age, standing between me and the lion. She had long brown hair from what I could see and was dressed in what appeared to be casual jeans, a blue tee shirt, and was holding a long bronze sword. In front of her stood the lion, a full ten feet behind where it was a second ago. But the appearance of the girl, or the fact that she could see the lion or even that she had somehow made it _back off_, was not the thing which shocked me the most. It was the fact that:

"You're the voice I heard!" I said, barely above a whisper. She turned and gave a half smile before turning back to the beast, which was once again slowly prowling forward. And then in one fluid motion she waved the sword horizontally, causing a short burst of light to appear and shooting a _**freaking lightning bolt**_, out of the sword.

The lion roared out in torment and protest before slowly turning into golden dust and vanishing. I stared with my mouth wide open. First at the spot the lion was in, then at her, then at the spot again. She turned to me showing her piercing blue eyes.

"Well? Aren't you going to say thank you?" she said, smiling widely at the stranger she'd just saved.

"What are you?" I said my voice barely above a whisper.

She rolled her eyes before stretching out her hand o help me up.

"My name's Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn Thyella." she said, eyes twinkling, "And as for what I am… I'm just your average daughter of Zeus."

**Author's note: Ok, so the next chapter will DEFINITELY be put up next Saturday, ok. And please REVIEW! Thank you. =P**


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Daw… I wanted to upload this around 6:00… Oh well, at least it's still Saturday. Enjoy, and remember, Read and Review!**

**Chapter 3**

She was kidding, right? I mean sure I saw monsters everywhere I went, but _this_? A daughter of Zeus, a.k.a. the most powerful of all the Greek gods? That made no sense! Sure I've seen some crazy stuff, but this was just insane. And really, if she was who she claimed to be, wouldn't she have better things to do than just talk to me. I was nobody, not even regular girls would talk to me, much less the daughter of the ruler of all the mythological Greek gods. But back to the matter at hand;

"You're insane," I said to Kaitlyn, blinking rapidly, a skeptical look on my face.

She pulled her hand back and actually looked hurt, making me feel sorry for what I said. Then she put on a pout and muttered "A simple thank you would have been enough, Zeke."

Not noticing the fact that she knew my name, I tried to get up before falling back down, grunting in pain. Frustrated, I sighed and looked at her wearily, I said "Sorry… and thanks, but did you hear what you just said?"

She rolled her blue eyes again and this time gave a sigh to go along with it. "You were nearly killed by **the** Nemean Lion, saw me destroy it by shooting lightning at it yet you don't believe me when I say that I'm the daughter of Zeus?"

"Pretty much," I said automatically, before putting some thought into it.

She did have a point though. But then another thought occurred to me.

"Why'd you save me?" I asked.

"Well if you didn't appreciate it…" she began, growing angrier by the second.

"No!" I nearly yelled, waving my arms.

If she really was a demi-god, as her kind was called, then I didn't want to piss her off, especially not with a wounded arm and leg.

"I do appreciate it… but, why would you help me when you probably have something much more important to do? And how did you even know I needed help?" This was just too confusing.

Her expression quickly changed from one of anger to a very sheepish and embarrassed one. "Well… I've kind of been… following you," she said in a small voice.

I knew I should have been angry or at least kind of freaked out at the fact that some random, possibly crazy girl was following me, but I wasn't. It was weird, since I know that if it had been anyone else I'd have been furious… but when I looked into those embarrassed yet piercing blue eyes…

It explained a bit though, like how she knew my name. At least it spared me those annoying introductions.

"But why?" I asked, dismissing her answer.

It made no sense why a demi-god would follow me, of all people. But then, nothing with me made much sense, did it?

Seeing herself in the clear, she visibly calmed down. "We need your help."

"Who's 'we'?" I asked in reply.

She took a minute before answering.

"Basically all magical creatures, as well as demi-gods, and the Greek gods themselves. Now that I think about, the entire world might just be in peril…"

I took a minute to process this. My help? No-one ever needed my help. No-one besides my brother, anyways. I began to wonder if this was a dream; it would have made sense, if only my foot wasn't searing in pain.

"You sure you've got the right guy?" I asked.

She nodded in response before everything became blurry, and then went black.

I woke up in my room. Looking out my window, I saw nothing but black. I turned back to my bed to see my swords, wrapped in the cloth I carried them in and leaning against the wall where I always left it. I guess it was just a dream, a completely impossible dream. Yeah, that made sense. At least more sense than the dream. I yawned and was about to go back to sleep when I heard her voice again.

"You took your time getting up."

I looked around quickly, nearly getting a whiplash in the process. But there Kaitlyn was, in the same blue tee shirt and casual jeans that I'd seen her in however long ago it was that I'd tried to attack the lion.

"What happened?" I asked, now wide awake.

She smiled as she answered, "You passed out."

I could tell that she was barely holding back her laughter. "I had to carry you and your 'friends' home. You're really heavy. You lost quite a bit of blood."

But that made no sense. I looked at my arm and saw no gash, nor did I feel any pain from wither my arm or my foot.

"How..?" I began, but she held up her arm.

"Don't worry about it," she said in response, "Now, I think you were saying something before you…" she giggled out the remainder of her sentence, "Fainted."

I looked at her, with a murderous stare, but she just continued giggling. Sighing, I tried to remember for a minute before it came back to me.

"Yeah… how do you know you need MY help?" I asked.

Sighing she looked at me with a tired look, "Trust me, I know."

Trust her? I barely knew her. She could be a psychopath whose only goal was to rape and kill me! Why in the world would I trust her? Why should I even go with her?

"Why should I help you… if what you're saying is even true?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Well what else do you have to do?"

She made it sound so easy. Maybe it was… Wait! What was I thinking, possibly risking my life helping people I didn't know?

"What do you want me to do?" I asked.

"I can't tell you," she replied.

She was joking right? She wanted me to help her and forsaken magical friends and gods and whatever else, and she couldn't tell me! I could feel my temper rising, but tried my best to keep it in check. First rule I learned while studying karate; never let your emotions control you.

"Why not?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"I can't tell you that either… not until you promise me you'll help. I'll tell you this much though… it's dangerous," she said, looking away from my face towards the ground, like she was… sorry? Upset? I didn't know.

I sighed. This was so stupid. I shouldn't be promising a stranger to do something I can't even be told to do after the fact.

"But," she began, "If you do accept, I can promise that I can explain everything to you, what you've been seeing that others haven't, and why they've been attack you. And then I might even be able to send you to a place where you can be protected."

That caught my attention. One reason why I read Greek mythology so thoroughly was that I was looking for why I was so different, why it felt like I was going crazy. An explanation, and maybe even somewhere safe from all of the monsters, that's all I'd ever really wanted. Maybe I was crazy, but;

"I'll do it," I said, not entirely certain.

She looked up, eyes bright and smiling the most radiant smile I've ever seen someone smile at me.

"Excellent! Now just swear it to me on the River Styx." She replied.

I gave her a confused look. The River Styx was just that, a river… but it ran through the pits of the underworld, and according to the myths, was what the gods swore their most sacred bonds on, and if they broke their word…

I was a little scared, and felt myself shaking a bit. But something about me told me to do it.

"I swear I'll help you on the River Styx."

I also swear that at that moment I heard the loudest boom of thunder I'd ever heard on one of the calmest nights of the year.

Kaitlyn sighed, "Sorry, my dad isn't particularly happy when a mortal swears on the Styx."

"So are you going to explain it to me now?" I asked after a period of silence. I was getting a bit impatient.

"I will… when we leave tomorrow…" she said, smiling before she walked out my door. I would have called her back… but I've had enough of a crazy day. I turned to my bed as all tiredness returned to me, and I fell asleep before my head even hit my pillow.

_Dear Jake,_

_ It was nice to hear from you in your last letter, although you shouldn't send it with blood stains all over the paper, it'll mess up my desk. I'm glad to hear that you're okay, and I hope it stays that way until you can get home._

_ Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'll be here when you get home… or if I'll ever see you again. Yeah, I know what you're thinking; 'he's just running away again… he'll be back within a few days.' No, I won't. _

_ Listen, you needed to leave to help save people… I'm gonna do the same thing, just not with the war. Unfortunately, I can't even tell you what's going on… I don't even know. I just know that I'm needed by people, and I can't turn them down. This will probably be the last bit of contact I'll ever have with you too, even if I don't die._

_ Please, don't worry about me; you've got enough on your plate without wondering what's happening to your baby brother._

_ I'm sorry, and I'll miss you. Just make sure you come back. Raise a family, marry Georgia like you wanted, and tell your kids about your crazy Uncle Zeke._

_ Goodbye and good luck, big bro._

_Your brother,_

_Zeke._

I folded the letter up in an envelope and sighed. It was hard to even think that I'd never see my brother again, and I knew that sending the letter would make it so final.

My mother had already gone to work and I was all alone in the house. I hadn't seen her since yesterday morning, but it didn't matter. I didn't need to say goodbye to her. We barely even tolerated each other. It wasn't only that she hated me because I was 'insane', but she had become bitter since my father died when I was just under the age of one, so we were never really close.

And if that wasn't enough, she was abusive… Jake had joked in some of his letters while he was still in training camp that she should help train the army; soldiers would be able face anything after suffering with her for a few years.

It wasn't funny though; I'd never really had a maternal figure and hardly had a paternal one with Jake trying to manage the role of big brother and father.

But that wasn't the point. I was leaving now, never coming back to this place that I once called home; when Jake was here anyways. I just wish that he had never left; it would have made the last few years so much more manageable. I still remember when he first left… Our mother in the house, doing something unimportant in comparison to her older son leaving, his girlfriend of two years Georgia crying while embracing him and his little brother, me, sitting on the steps, barely holding in the tears knowing that his big brother might not come back.

"What am I doing?" I said aloud, "Thinking about it isn't going to make it any better…"

I shook my head as I continued to pack my small duffel bag with clothes, a small portion of food, some money I had stolen from my mother and, my Tales of the Heroes book;

'Hey, with what I'm about to dive into knowing what I might go up against might help a little,' I thought.

Everything packed; I took up my bag, swords, and the letter to my brother and headed out. This was the last time I'd ever leave the house, but I didn't look back, not even once.

As I continued to the post office, to mail my final letter to my brother, I began to question all of this. Like 'What if this was a lie?'

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Well why didn't you think about that before you decided to go off with a strange, although pretty girl to do who knows what?

Eh, I guess I'm just retarded like that. But maybe they could help, and really how much would it matter if I ended up dead anyways? I could be walking into something so much worse… but on the other hand, I might be going somewhere where others actually understand me.

Looking up I realized that I was at the post office. I walked over to the drop off box for the letters. Luckily, there was no line. No-one really wanted to be out during a war. Only reason why there was even school was that otherwise 'The next generation will be full of muscle head ex soldiers and dumb stay at homers…' or whatever.

Opening the box, I peered down to see only darkness inside of it. I hesitated. This was it… the end of my normal life; or as normal as my life was anyways. 'No, don't look at it like that,' I told myself, 'Look at it as a new beginning.' My indecision gone, I dropped the letter into the box and turned to see Kaitlyn standing in front of me. She was a really good stalker… if stalkers could be good.

Without a word, she turned as well and began to walk away. Equally silent I followed her.

I only hoped that this new beginning, wasn't the really the end in disguise.


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's note: Long chapter is LOOOONG! I had to upload this early because I'm leaving for 3 days in… half an hour ;_; So enjoy! And don't forget to review! Also, just want to say thanks to my first two reviewers Orochi-Ne and 101EmilyRox! Thanks guys! =D**

**Chapter 4**

We had been walking for nearly two hours, and I still had absolutely no idea where we were going. I was hoping that she would want to start the conversation first; she looked like the type to do that. After the first half hour, I realized that that wasn't going to happen. So since then, I had been wondering what to ask her first. But I had such a long list, I thought I'd ask the most basic and yet one of the most important questions.

"So where are we going?" I asked, still walking.

She looked at me with a tugging smile, like she was ready to start laughing at me all over again. "You'll see," she responded with a light humour in her voice.

Honestly, I didn't think that I was going to last a few more minutes with all of the suspense. So I stopped. She took a few more steps before realizing that I had stopped moving. Then she turned to look at me with a small frown and a confused look.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

She was joking, right? She came to me, asked me for help, made me leave my 'home' and follow her blindly, and she still couldn't even tell me what the heck was going on? Forgive me for my truthfulness, but that's just plain rude!

I clenched my teeth and thought about what I was going to say before answering, "The matter is that I'm following you completely blind, even after you told me you'd explain everything to me after I swore to help you. Why should I even trust you?"

She actually screwed up her face in thought. Then she answered, "You're right aren't you? Sorry, I just wanted it to be a surprise. I doubt you'd even believe me if I told you, anyways."

I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. She wanted it to be a _surprise_? What did she think this was; some kind of adventure? Wasn't she the one who said the world was in danger?

I dismissed this thought bringing my attention to the final statement made. "I've been seeing mythological creatures since I was born, and I think I'm technically talking to one right now. If I'm not crazy that is… What thing could be so out of this world that I wouldn't believe you?"

"Well you didn't believe me that I was the daughter of Zeus, or that the world might just end soon," she countered.

Touché…

"Fine, but please, just humour me anyways," I replied.

She sighed and looked at me. "You're no fun," she said pouting, "But if you have to know, we're going to Camp Half-Blood."

"Camp Half of whose blood!" I replied, startled.

She giggled before talking again, "I change my mind; you are fun."

Yippee for me…

"And," she began again, "It's Camp Half-_Blood_, a camp for demi-gods to be protected from monsters until they can become strong enough to protect themselves."

Demi-gods needed to be protected? From what, the monsters? Shouldn't they already be strong to protect themselves?

"Why are we going ther…?" I began as I realized something, "Wait, you don't mean that I'm…?"

"No, you're not a demi-god," she replied very nonchalantly, as she turned and began walking again.

I began following once again, deep in thought. I don't know whether I was upset or relieved by this news, but it brought up the question I wanted the answer to the most.

"So, what am I?" I said quietly, not really intending for her to hear.

But she did.

"You're what we call a _Diakrinos_" she replied, not looking back.

I understood the Greek. "Perceives?" I replied confused, stopping once again.

She looked at me shocked and asked, "You know Greek?"

"Uh… yeah?" I said, more of a question than an answer.

She didn't reply for a minute, then turned back and began walking again, whispering something I couldn't hear. But I didn't move again, it made no sense, so I asked what she meant. "So what exactly is a… uh… 'diokrinas'?"

She sighed once again, realizing that we were getting nowhere fast. "I'll tell you, can you just come on? I'd like to get to camp before the end of the world comes about."

I didn't know whether she was being serious or not, but either way I followed her. Seeing that we were getting somewhere, she began again.

"It's D_iakrinos_, not diokrinas. And a Diokrinas is one who can _see through_ the Mist."

"The Mist…, like fog?" I asked. This was getting more and more confusing. However, it looked like Kaitlyn had a lot of patience; otherwise I might have been electrocuted by now.

"Not that kind of mist. The Mist I'm talking about is what keeps all of the monsters and whatever else mortals shouldn't see hidden from them," she replied, "And instead makes them see something that they could understand; something that would make more sense to them."

That's when it all made sense. Why I could see the monsters and others would say that there was nothing there, or what they thought it was just a normal person. Why everyone thought Mr. Smithens was a normal man until he disappeared, and why they didn't remember that he was there in the first place. Why Kevin, the jerk, thought that the Nemean Lion was a _dog_ of all things. It all made sense! Except…

"How come I couldn't hurt the lion… or Mr. Smithens for that matter?" I asked.

"Because you don't have the right kind of weapon." She replied, "What you need is celestial bronze."

Celestial bronze? What the heck is that? And what does she mean 'I don't have the right kind of weapon?' My swords are great weapons. Before I could protest, however, she continued explaining.

"Before you ask, Celestial Bronze is one of the few substances that can harm or destroy monsters or even gods… Your swords are made out of what… stainless steel? Wouldn't have any effect on them." She finished.

I muttered out a small "Oh," and continued following her.

We continued walking, silent again, for another few minutes before she asked me a question. "Who's Mr. Smithens?"

I was silent for a moment before I answered her, "Y'know, Mr. Smithens… my teacher from a few years back. The one with a lion's head and snake arms who wanted me dead for some reason…?"

She still looked clueless.

"The one that you killed?" I continued trying to remind her of when Mr. Smithens had attacked me.

She looked at me with a completely confused look and said, "I've never even fought a monster like that, much less killed one. And besides, I only started following you from last week."

"What! But who could've…?" I started. I looked at her but she didn't know. It had to have been her… who else could've saved me?

"Look," she began, it doesn't matter whether someone saved you or not, all that matters is that you're still alive and so you can help.

But it did matter. As we continued forward, I couldn't stop but wonder, 'Who saved me that day?'

We had arrived in Wisconsin. This was a very good thing, because honestly, at this point I was ready to drop from the lack of energy I had.

"How much farther is it?" I asked, sweaty all over. I might have been trained to have stamina for the past few years, but this was crazy.

"Not much farther," she replied wearily.

That was good news. But still I was curious. "So where exactly is this camp?" I asked.

"New York," she replied simply.

I stopped and didn't move for what felt like a good five or so minutes. Then I started laughing; this was obviously a joke. Because believe me, we were nowhere near New York. In fact, if we were going to New York, we'd have to walk for another three days straight before we even came close to half way there.

"What's so funny?" she asked with a smile on her face, "I wanna laugh too."

"You are!" I replied between my laughs, "New York… ha-ha! You're joking right?"

Her smile faded. "Right." I asked, although it was of a statement than a question. She shook her head. "What do you mean, we're going to New York! Do you know how far it is…!" I began.

But she held up her hand to my face, effectively silencing me. If anything, she was only making me madder. I knew I shouldn't have come with her.

_Liar,_ I told myself. You wanted to come, to escape it all. But that wasn't the point. The point was that we were at least a thousand miles away from New York and had to walk all the way there.

"Don't worry," she said, taking me out of my inner conflict, "I have a way how we can get there quickly without walking."

"And your quick and easy method is…?" I asked her, believing she was just leading me on.

"Don't worry about it," she said in reply, "I'll show you soon. But for now, how about we get some lunch?"

I was about to protest before my stomach growled. I was so tired; I hadn't even realized how hungry I was. But as soon I took out a can of baked beans from my bag, Kaitlyn grabbed it from me.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her eyebrow arched quizzically.

If there was anything I hated, it was trick questions. But I managed to calm myself down. Pissing off a demi-god was not the smartest career choice, unless you _want_ to become a steaming pile of ash that is.

"I _was_ going to eat, but _obviously_ _I_ did something _wrong,_" I replied, trying to keep my tone level, yet failing on a few of the words.

But then I just completely lost all control over my tone, and before I could control myself, I was shouting. "I mean excuse me, for starving after walking at least a hundred miles from my home to follow some strange girl I've never met before in my life to do who know what! I mean _what_ was I thinking, trying to eat just because I'm hungry? In fact, I don't know if I was thinking at all, because I don't even know what I did wrong. Maybe I should just ask Kaitlyn. So, _Kaitlyn, _what did Zeke do wrong now!"

"Nothing," Kaitlyn replied, noticing the tone of his voice and showing hurt in her blue eyes, "I was just going to take you to a restaurant to eat as a way of saying sorry for making you have to walk so far."

I am _such _an ass. _No, you're just really tired, hungry, and wanting to vent frustration on something, and she was the closest thing, _I told myself. Sure, maybe it was true, but that still didn't mean that I wasn't a stupid obnoxious jackass.

"I'm sorry," I said, trying to make amends.

She looked at me for a moment, almost like she examining me, before she whispered an ''its ok,'' and began to walk into the city.

We walked a short distance before seeing a small sandwich restaurant with a sign saying they were having a two for one special.

"You wanna eat here?" I asked her.

"Sure," she said in reply, still with that sad look in her eyes.

I think I broke her…

We concealed our weapons as best we could, sat down in one of the booths, and placed an order to the waiter who looked at us as though he didn't believe that we had enough money to pay. I'm definitely not tipping him.

I looked over at Kaitlyn and saw that she was looking outside the window, then at the counter, then at the table. Anywhere else but at me.

"Look, I was stupid, I'm sorry," I said.

"It's ok," she said again. But she was obviously still upset.

"No it's not. I was being a real idiot who let his anger get the better of him and then I took it out on you. So can you just take it out on me before you get too depressed? I'll let you shock me," I said, jokingly.

She chuckled a bit, before frowning again.

"Come on, where's the girl who kept laughing at me because of every stupid thing I did? Remember when I fainted? Classic," I said.

This time when she laughed she looked at me with a small smile. "Yeah, you are pretty stupid."

I smiled back at her and said, "I'm sorry Kaitlyn,"

"Katy," she replied.

"Huh?" I asked in response.

"I prefer Katy." She answered, "Only my mom calls me Kaitlyn, even though, I keep telling her not to."

"Alright, Katy," I replied.

"So… I'm curious," she began, "Before I saved you, I saw you trying to do _something_ to the Nemean Lion. What were you doing?"

I looked at her, a bit hurt. I was the best fighter in my class, with or without swords. So in response, I rolled my eyes and said, "Katy, I don't know where you're specifically from, where everyone just shoots their little lion troubles away with lightning, but in my state of Minnesota, we call that fighting. And good fighting at that!"

"Pfft! Are you serious? You know how to read Greek but you don't know that the lion is impervious to any weapons, and even if your swords could touch it, they only be good for opening that can of beans?" she said, before laughing outright. Katy was back alright.

"What did you want me to do?"

"Well," she began, before pretending to think for a few seconds, "You could've… run?"

"And let them do what to the other kids? Let'em get eaten?" I asked, pointing out the obvious.

"They don't usually attack mortals," she replied.

"They don't?" This was news to me. She shook her head. "Then why do they attack me? Aren't I a '_mortal_'?" I asked, putting the word 'mortal' in finger quotes.

"Because you're different; you can see them." She said matter of factly.

And then it came right back to the fact that I'm different. I hate being different.

"How old are you?" I asked, changing the subject. She looked my age, but for all I knew, she could have been a hundred. There was no telling how old a demi-god was.

"How old do you think I am?" she asked, her eyes sparkling, as if she was getting ready for a good laugh. Although they did look very pretty…

"Um… 112?" I asked having no clue how old she really was.

I was right. As soon as she heard the word hundred, she threw back her head and started laughing. I rolled my eyes and waited for her to stop. Only that took a full five minutes, with her laugh ending in a little snort. Then I started laughing, and neither of us stopped for a good few minutes.

As soon as we both calmed down she looked at me and wiped her eyes of any tears that had erupted from her laughter and answered, "Take away a hundred and add two."

"You're fourteen too?" I asked, shocked.

"Drat! I wanted to guess your age you know… You look more three hundred and forty to me." She said, acting a little upset. I chuckled before she began talking again, "We age just like mortals, we're actually quite similar."

It was weird, because as she said it, I realized that she was a teenager, just like me. We were the same… or close enough, as she had said.

"So where'd you learn Greek?" she asked, as our food arrived.

"I taught it to myself," I replied before biting the first half of a ham sandwich. Food had never tasted so good.

"Really? It's a really difficult language." She replied, not eating.

"Yeah. I learnt it when I was ten. But I didn't really get it; not until about half a year ago anyways." I said, in between bites, finishing the first half.

The she did the oddest thing. She started poking her sandwich.

"What?" I asked, "Demi-gods don't eat?" It wouldn't be all that surprising if they didn't. I don't think the Greek gods ate, just stared at it until they were full, or something like that.

"Yeah, but I don't eat fish," she said, opening it to show that it was a salmon fish sandwich.

"Then why'd you order it?" I asked, puzzled.

"Oh… uh," she said trying to avoid answering the question.

"What? You can tell me," I said, "It's not like I'm gonna tell someone… I don't even have anyone to tell anyways."

She sighed before looking at me, then she mumbled something.

"Huh?" I asked in reply.

Speaking up she mumbled again, but this time I could hear her say "I can't read."

I looked at her for a moment. I would've asked if she was joking, but it was obvious that she wasn't. I would have then laughed if I knew it would hurt her feelings again, so I just shrugged and asked, "Do you want my other one?"

"Your what?" she asked confused.

I pointed down at my sandwich, "I'll trade ya, unless you don't eat ham too?"

"Yeah I do… You sure though?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's no problem… and if you're still hungry we can order another for you." I replied.

"Thanks," she said, before switching plates and beginning to eat, none to gracefully, on my ex-sandwich. Didn't matter to me anyways, I… tolerated fish, as long as they weren't alive and swimming around me.

"You want me to teach you how to read?" I asked, starting back up a conversation, it's not that hard, as long as you can speak it.

"It's not that easy," she replied, "I'm… dyslexic."

That was a shock to me. You just wouldn't think that the daughter of a god be cursed with anything like that. You'd probably think that they were blessed with all sorts of wonders or something.

"Oh, sorry…," I began, but she cut me off again, for the i-don't-knoweth time today.

"It's ok, it's not just me," she said, although her voice suggested it _wasn't_ ok, and that she didn't like it, "All demi-gods have it. It's so that we can read our native language; Greek. We also have something like ADHD; it heightens our senses in battle though, so it's not that bad."

"Hmmm," I said in response. Just because it helped in some way, didn't mean that it didn't suck. Changing the topic, I asked about her father. Big mistake.

"So what's your dad like?" I asked, "Must be cool, having the head god as your father."

Her eyes darkened in reply and she put down the rest of her sandwich. "I wouldn't know, I've never met him."

"Oh…," I said in shock, trailing off. I was about to change the topic but Katy started right back on the conversation.

"He has a lot of children, and being a god and all, he doesn't have time to talk to his own kids. It's not even like he sends a 'Thinking of you card', or anything either, he just completely ignores us."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," I said. I was silent for a moment before I spoke again, "I've never really knew my dad either, he died before I turned one."

She looked at me sorrowfully, "I'm sorry, but at least you had your mom."

This is when I went silent. I really didn't want to have to talk about that woman anymore. We finished the sandwiches in silence, left some money of the table and left. We began walking when Katy stopped. I looked at her, confused as she reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a large gold coin. Seeing the confusion on my face, she smiled and began to speak… but it wasn't in English.

"Stêthi," she shouted in Ancient Greek. "Ô hárma diabolês!"

I haven't mastered _ancient _Greek yet, but I think she said something like 'Stop the Damnation!'? It was pretty hard to tell just what she was saying.

The she threw the large coin into the street. But instead of hitting the asphalt, it sunk right through it! Then, just where the coin had fallen, the asphalt of the road darkened. It melted into a rather large rectangular pool—bubbling some red liquid… like blood. Then a giant gray piece of metal on wheels erupted from the ooze.

It looked like it was made of smoke…, but for some reason it looked solid. I was about to ask Katy what it was, but then a part of the chunk of metal rolled down, and the _oldest _woman I've ever seen in my entire life, peered her head out of the gap created.

"Passage?" she croaked. It was a wonder she could even speak. Her skin was so dry, it looked like it was just about to turn to dust, and I could only imagine what the inside of her mouth would look like… wait! No! The images! Why did I think that?

Oblivious to my mental image ('_Lucky_!' my inner voice screeched, '_why, why?_'), Katy spoke to the 'woman', unless you wanted to call her a hag, which seemed much more appropriate. "Two to Camp Half-Blood."

"Gah!" she screeched, pointing at me, "We don't take his kind!"

I was offended. Sure, I was a mortal, but still, that was plain rude. Whatever happened to customer service?

"An extra drachma on arrival?" Katy said, asking more that making a statement.

"Two or no deal!" the woman said once again in her horrible voice. If there was glass in that chunk of metal… Well, there might have been, before her screeching voice broke it.

"Alright," Katy said, grumbling "Thinks I'm made out of gold or something…." She opened a door-like… thing and climbed in. I followed her and waited. Realizing I had no clue what to do, she reached over me and shut the door.

"What is this?" I asked her.

She looked at me for a second before laughing. What'd I do now?

Stopping after a few seconds she looked at me. "It's a taxi."

"A what now?" I asked in reply.

"A taxi, Zeke. It's a car that takes people where they want to go if you pay the drivers."

"Oh…"

"You don't know what a car is, do you?"

"No."

She giggled again and looked at me. "A car is basically a piece of metal that makes it easier for people to get around."

"Oh…"

"What now?" she asked. She wasn't frustrated, I noted, just wanting to explain it to me.

"So they're from your realm… the cars, that is."

"For now…"

"Huh?"

"Mortals will start building the cars soon enough. They always make things that are originally my realm."

"Ok…"

Ending my conversation with her, I turned back to the driver and noticed that there was more than just one driver. There were three. And they were fighting over something. Not concentrating on what they were saying before, I didn't hear them at all. Now it was not the case. Although I wish it was…

"Give me the eye!" the first hag yelled.

"I need it to drive!" the one who had poked her head out the window said.

"Nom nom nom," gurgled the third, who was chewing on… something gold.

"It's my turn!" the first yelled again, trying to hold out her hand her hand to the second, although she was holding it out to the third.

"Nom… I don't have it!" The third yelled, spitting out the large golden coin that Katy had given her… Ew…

"Enough!" the first yelled, "I am keeping the eye, I am driving, and I say that we are going NOW!"

I wish Katy had told me to brace myself as we lurched forward.

Never again. NEVER AGAIN. NEVERO AGAINO! I don't care what's happening, we could be just about to die, we could be in dire situations, but I will NEVER AGAIN go in that _THING _that Katy called a taxi. I don't even know why we'd want to make those things. They're dangerous!

As soon as the chunk of metal stopped, I threw open the door and jumped out. I lied down on the grass, holding it close for a few seconds. I'll never take the ground for granted again.

Then Katy crawled out, looking almost as sick as I did, before she too plopped onto the ground. I heard the second hag call us 'babies', before driving off.

"I think I would have preferred walking if I knew that was going to happen…" I said, sitting up.

"Yeah, that isn't my favorite thing to do. Sorry for not giving you the heads up." She replied. I got to my feet, although shaking a bit and offered my hand to help her up. She took it and I brought her to her feet.

"Thanks," she said, although as she stood she wobbled a bit. Not that I could blame her.

"No problem," I said in reply. Looking around, I saw nothing, "So where is this camp?" I asked.

"Over the hill," she said, already walking over to it.

I followed her, but before I could get over the hill, I walked into a… wall? At least I think I did. But there was nothing there. I tried again, but something was barring me from the top of the hill. Yet Katy walked right through it.

"Um… Katy?" I called, still trying to push forwards with my hands, to no avail.

She turned around, and noticed my struggling, "Oh right," she said matter of factly, as though invisible walls were normal, "I, Kaitlyn Thyella, give you permission to enter camp."

I really wished I had stopped pushing, because right after she stopped talking, I went face down to the ground with an oh so graceful 'boom'. And I thought I loved the ground… I quickly got up to see Katy standing over me, giggling once again, holding her hand out for me. How many times had she laughed and/or giggled at me since we met little over a day ago?

I was brought back up to my feet, and I followed her and she headed over the hill once more.

When I headed over the hill, I saw the most beautiful valley I'd ever seen. Scattered over it were some small yet still majestic buildings in the shape of a large 'U'. At the top of the shape was a rather large farm house, about three or four stories high rather large building at the top of it. On one end of the valley, I saw a large climbing wall, spewing out a red liquid that was wither lava or blood… I honestly couldn't tell which would be worse. Though they were far away, I could make out people, of what age, I don't know, bustling all about, either very very busy, or very very lazy. It was almost as though they had forgotten the giant war that had been going on all over the world (thus appropriately named World Warn II) over the past few years.

I looked at Katy in shock. How could they have kept this hidden from the world? Katy, however, just smiled at me and before saying "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood!"


End file.
